


To See Yourself

by Maeple



Series: Hidekane Week 2018 [1]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arists, Alternate Universe - Humans, Hidekane Week, Hidekane Week 2018, Kissing, M/M, PDA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 03:26:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15403914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeple/pseuds/Maeple
Summary: Hide is a young artist who discovers Anteiku Center of the Arts, a gallery with studio spaces for rent--and a new crush.ForHidekane WeekDay 1 (posted ontumblr)Prompt:Sacrifice/Partners in Crime/"Your precious Hide-kun"





	To See Yourself

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to do an artist au for a while! So I apologize the prompt is very loosely incorporated.

Sometimes, Hide thought that art was a platform that could transcend language.

He couldn't  _tell_  you how outlandish and eye-catching the purples and reds of the painting were; he couldn't tell you how they seemed to vibrate, how they only seemed to pop out more next to each other. He couldn't tell you the intricate story the piece wove. But he could  _show_  you. Hide could show you the bold, confident strokes; he could show how the complementary colors clashed against one another, how they only seemed to work together more for it. He could show the gentle detail carved into its visual tale.

He could  _describe_  the piece, but he couldn't simply  _tell_  it.

Hide could tell you a lot of things, but encapturing a piece of art in words worthy of it was not one of them. All art had stories--no matter how dull or mundane. There was the classic "I-Made-This-For-A-Class-And-I'm-Not-Very-Proud-Of-It" story, the common "I-Just-Got-Inspired" plotline, or even the "I'm-Getting-My-Feelings-Out-In-A-Healthy-Way" narrative.

Just as he couldn't begin to put into words how odd it was to meet the artist behind the painting. 

A young man with white hair and an eyepatch. But despite his unusual appearance, he was... timid and shy, nothing like the artwork behind him.

The boy was clad in all black--a black hoodie and skinny jeans and even shoes, except for the white eyepatch that covered his left eye. He was curious, but he wouldn't ask, it wasn't any of his business. Other than that, if Hide didn't know better, he could've been any other rebellious university student. A couple of mugs and coffee cups were scattered about his workspace.

Kaneki Ken was so unsuspicious and unoffensive against his vibrant artwork. He was an unusual contrast to the emotional and bold pictures.

Kaneki seemed to be reading Hide in his own way, too, as they both stood in silence, observing each other. Maybe it was an artist thing.

He had just rented out studio space at Anteiku Center of the Arts. It was run by Kamii University graduates under the supervision of the manager, who taught at Kamii.

"It's such a nice program you're running here," Hide started. "I'm glad I found it."

Kaneki nodded in reply, a smile gracing his face. "I'm glad you think so."

Hide hummed in agreement.

"I hope you'll enjoy it. I can get the keys over to you sometime tomorrow if that's fine?"

Kaneki had personally welcomed Hide into Anteiku, even showed him around the multiple floors a bit. But looking around Kaneki's workspace, there were tons of papers--but none seemed to be art, the only of which on the white walls.

Honestly, it must be so stressful trying to run a place like Anteiku. While Kaneki was an artist, Hide didn't think the employees really had an abundance of free time there to make art; one running a place that supplied a gallery, studios, art classes, and theater sessions.

"Yeah, that would be fine! Thank you, again," Hide beamed.

Kaneki nodded politely with a light blush. "Of course."

God, he was so _cute._

His eyes scanned the walls of Kaneki's office again. That one portrait, in particular, stuck out to him, the one with reds and purples.

Blood red spider lilies and purple flowers (he didn't know their name) painted too furiously to be considered delicate against a  warped checkered background. The flowers seemed to be stemmed from locks of violet hair. Blood dripped down from the top of the canvas, causing the blood splatters on the flowers and the floor, seemingly what stained the tips of the hair red. All in reds and purples and black and white. The canvas itself was as tall as the wall in the room, obviously meant to attract attention. It certainly gave off "I'm-Trying-to-Express-My-Emotions-In-a-Healthy-Way-but-it's-Not-Working-Because-I'm-too-Much-of-a-Perfectionist" vibes.

And yet it was so different from the quiet boy in front of him. Oh well. Artists were like that sometimes.

"You must not have a lot of free time. Don't worry, I'll make sure sacrifices aren't in vain!" he jokingly told Kaneki, who only raised his eyebrows in amusement. "I'll see you around, then?"

"Definitely."

 

* * *

 

 

He saw Kaneki around the studio a lot more than he expected. He was always so nice--and Hide felt himself sink deeper into his little crush.

Their exchanges were usually lighthearted and playful and teasing and it made Hide's heart flutter, and everything else cheesy one could think of. The only one he had confined in was his friend Touka, who he found Anteiku through. She was a part-time employee, working to keep her studio space there.

Hide always looked forward to their conversations, looked forward to seeing Kaneki smile again, he looked forward to a lot of things. He didn't know it was so easy to fall in love a thousand times over in a million different ways, but it happened.

The blond was aware, to an extent, that he did talk about Kaneki quite some bit.

"Just ask him out," Touka snorted as she gouged out part of--whatever material she was carving into.

"What?" Hide asked. He had heard--he just... wasn't entirely sure he heard right.

"Ask him out," Touka repeated, pausing to glare at him, knowing full well he knew what she said the first time.

Ever since Hide started talking about Kaneki--it seemed like, to Touka, that was all he ever did. And he was just beginning to realize she wasn't wrong.

"I don't think you realize this, but--shit--" Touka cut herself off as she inevitably knocked over the water by her elbow (of course). Hide could only watch in alarm as Touka fruitlessly tried to snatch her block away before the water reached it, but the bottom had already wet, and in the process, Touka ended up cracking the fragile block, grainy crumbs of--whatever it was falling to the floor. She groaned and set the block back down in the water.

"Shit, shit..." she breathed. "The block's hardened too much for me to mull it again with newer sand, and it wasn't cheap either!" Touka muttered as she buried her head in her hands, letting out a deep sigh. Hide was sort of hesitant but eventually went in to rub her back.

"You poor child. But if it makes you feel any better, it was one of your lesser works," he said gently and truthfully.

Touka swatted him away with a huff. "Great. And no, that does not make me feel better."

"Yeah, so, what did I not realize?" Hide asked before he forgot.

She sighed and leaned against the white wall behind her. "I don't think you realize that it isn't entirely one-sided." A smirk grew on her face as she continued, "You're not the only love-struck teenager around the studio."

Hide raised his eyebrows at the implication, but forced them back into their place to shoot with a straight face, "Oh, you mean you and Yoriko? Yeah, I can see that."

Touka rolled her eyes, but not without blushing. She was awful at hiding her emotions, making her easy to read.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," she snapped as she cleaned up the disaster that had become her casting block.

"Fine, fine. But still, if I ask Kaneki out, you have to ask Yoriko out, okay?" Hide asked.

Touka bit her lip. "You know, even if I ask her out, she'll never do it. She's hanging out with that Kuroiwa dude."

Hide sighed. "So? I hang out with a lot of people, doesn't mean I'm in love with them."

"Yeah, but--"

"No buts! She likes you; I really think she does. You can punch me later if I'm wrong."

"And same for you with Kaneki," Touka shot back.

"Fair," Hide agreed, nervousness already worming through his stomach, knotting itself and squirming like he had swallowed a living being.  But the slithering anxious snake always turned into little fluttering butterflies around Kaneki, usually when he did something. Like rolled up his sleeves because dang, he was actually well-built under those sweaters. Or when Kaneki would sometimes bring Hide coffee in the mornings, pretty much memorizing his preferences--God.

Hide was really in too deep, wasn't he?

Touka uncrossed her arms and straightened. "And do I have your word on that?"

Hide dramatically bowed, hand over heart. "Yes, milady, I give you my word!"

She raised her eyebrows with an unimpressed deadpan, head slightly inclined. "Actually, I want you to keep your word. Your honor and my trust rides on this, Nagachika."

"Oh yeah, my bad," Hide sheepishly grinned. "And yours does too! Don't think you're off the hook either."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

 

 

Anxiety was like a too-warm embrace that snuck up from behind and tackled him. It slammed into him like a truck as he entered Anteiku that morning, fiddling with the keychains on his keyring.

God. Hide let out a short breath as he scanned the central area of the first floor. No Kaneki yet.

That was good.

Hide had woken up earlier than usual--with the sole purpose of arriving before him. It wasn't like he had a surprise prepared (he tried, but he didn't want to be cliche (not that he wasn't already)). It was more of a pressing need to be there before--Hide didn't think he could gather what little courage he had to ask Kaneki if he were to greet him at the door as he usually did.

Because Hide still feared rejection, no matter what Touka reassured him with. And even if he was let down gently, who said that wouldn't change things between them? By taking this step, he was gambling change. Good or bad.

Hide could tell you a lot of things, but he couldn't tell someone how terrified he was. Hide was clenching and unclenching his free hand, flexing his fingers and retracing them. He swallowed numerous times and took several deep breaths, trying to stone himself as he watched a familiar white-haired man approach the glass doors of Anteiku.

Kaneki looked up in surprise as the door shut behind him, gray eyes smiling for him with a pleasant surprise. "Oh, Hide," he greeted.

Hide found himself smiling back. The nervousness didn't go away, even as his heart fluttered at the sight of the other. "Yo, Kaneki," he returned.

Kaneki looked down, as if contemplating something for a few moments, and lifted his head again.

Hide began as Kaneki opened his mouth, not on purpose, "So, Kaneki--"

"So--"

They both stopped to let the other go on. They exchanged awkward smiles and hesitant glances.

They started at the same time again.

"Hide--"

"Kaneki--"

"Uh, sorry. What were you saying?" Kaneki rushed before Hide could say the same thing. Hide cast him a grateful glance, before his body decided he physically could not meet his gentle gaze.

"We should go somewhere sometime. Talking to you here is nice and all, but we should do something." Okay, so maybe a pretty straightforward approach wasn’t the best, but it was something. He didn’t think he could bear to beat around the bush, not while he managed to gather what little confidence he had toward the matter.

Or maybe he could; he was just too afraid.

Of a lot of things.

"--I mean, only if you want, we could, like, go out sometime..." Hide trailed off as he waited for a reaction, a response, anything.

Kaneki blinked at him a few times.

Silence.

Then Kaneki smiled. "Yeah, that sounds great, Hide... I'd... really like that, actually." Kaneki was blushing, looking to the ground, although Hide could hardly tell why.

Unless--

Unless he thought it was a date?

Not that it wasn't! It could totally be. Hide just wanted something to fall back on if it turned out Kaneki didn't like him (though he knew it would hurt, to have to scramble to say,  _“Just as friends, you know?”_ ).

Hide hoped it was a date, but he didn't think Kaneki would take it that way. He was glad.

Hide grinned. His nervousness was now full-on butterflies just because Kaneki seemed so happy, just as happy as Hide.

"--So, what was it you were going to say?" Hide asked after a few moments of baffled silence.

"Oh--I was... actually just going to say your hair is a mess," Kaneki admitted with that smile of his that made Hide's heart skip a beat. Though Kaneki absentmindedly touched his chin. Hide didn't push it as he felt his own face warm.

"Well... what can I say? Being a mess is kind of my thing."

Kaneki's smile widened as he stepped further to Hide. Then he grew uncertain. 

Hide grinned and rubbed his arm, breathing out softly as he stared into those deep gray eyes, eyes that wouldn't quite meet his gaze. Hide's brown eyes trailed down to Kaneki's lips, then back again. Hide blushed, wringing his hands nervously as Kaneki finally did, their gazes locking in a sort of understanding.

Hide gently reached for Kaneki's hand. Kaneki met him halfway, his fingers lightly trailing over Hide's as they found their places and intertwined with each other. Hide gave it a soft squeeze as Kaneki drew closer, a light blush dusting his face.

Spellbound, Hide found himself leaning in, staring at those lips of his--

A smile slowly bloomed on the white-haired man's face as he closed the distance, his lips meeting Hide's, light as a feather on his own. Hide returned the kiss happily, even giggling into it at first, just because he couldn't believe it.

His heart felt lighter, heck, his whole _body_  felt light as he became infatuated, no room left for thoughts except those of Kaneki's mouth on his, making him weak in the knees. Hide's eyes fluttered shut as he gripped the other's hand tighter as Kaneki's arm snaked around his waist.

Kaneki tasted vaguely like coffee as Hide cradled the small of his back, pressing them close.

When they broke the kiss, pulling away with such an infinitesimal movement, Kaneki smiled.

Probably the first non-awkward, not-shy smile he had seen from Kaneki.

Hide returned it in full.

All that passed between the two was silence, a comfortable silence that pressed around them like a blanket wrapped around their shoulders. They stood there, taking each other in as if they had just opened their eyes for the first time. Like every experience was new and refreshed.

"I've wanted to do that for a while now," Kaneki whispered. Hide gave a breathy laugh.

He really believed that art was a platform that could transcend language.

And that moment indeed was art, in the way it was lovingly embraced. Love and art were quite similar, in a sense that both were methods to see yourself in things that weren't you.

Anything Hide could've said at that moment would've been put to shame as Kaneki cupped his face pulled him in for another kiss.

Hide could tell you a lot of things, but putting the feelings that passed between them into words wasn't one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope it was alright! Thanks for reading :)


End file.
